I have had frozen shoulder for 3-4 months now after having rotator cuff surgery. It froze due to workers comp denying therapy after surgery. Anyway my questions are how long is recovery after manipulation for frozen shoulder, will I be in a sling after it and if so for how long? How does it feel after the surgery? If there is anything else you can tell me I would appreciate it.

Welcome to the board, I wonder about WCB boards spending so much money on surgery and then not following up, and folks off work for so long. Do you have limitation in all shoulder ranges? Can you sleep on the sore shoulder? Is the pain in the shoulder only? If you push the range too far does it increase the pain? Is the pain greatest at night?
A frozen shoulder affects people from 40 to 60 usually. A traumatic arthritis comes on after an injury, somtimes only minor, and the really painfull phase lasts about 4 months and it may take up to a year to settle back to painfree. If it is a traumatic arthritis it will most likely do better than a true frozen shoulder. Has your Doc tried any injection into the capsule?
Every shoulder is different after a manipulation and you must follow up with a PT, your Doc should insist to the WCB. Good luck, keep us in touch.
James

Pain is at night and I still can't sleep on it. When I try to do to much with it during the day there is pain as well. The doctor has not done any injections, but he has done test on the shoulder as well as another doctor and they both have agreed that with the xray, less motion each month, and the pain that it is frozen shoulder. I was just hoping those that had the manipulation that could help me with the recovery process afterwards like will you be in a sling and if so how long, approximate time of therapy and if there is anything else I may need to know or that may help.

The manipulation of the shoulder will be the doc putting me to sleep and him manually moving the shoulder around since it is froze and then send me to therapy he said, but I am just trying to find out more.

The Frozen Shoulder is a bit like Russia, It is an Enigma, Wrapped in a Riddle and shrouded in Mystery. Firstly, the shoulder joint is multiaxial ball and socket joint, big head, small cup and so is inherently unstable. Most joints rely on ligaments to hold them in place but the shoulder places a lot of it's stability on the tendonous rotator cuff. The shoulder is the only joint which exibits the "frozen" potential. No frozen knees, hips or ankles. Unfortunately many in the medical professions who look after patients with shoulder conditions call any stiffness in a shoulder a frozen shoulder. Other names by the way are periarthritis and adhesive capsulitis. It is now debatable if it should be called a frozen shoulder rather than a severe capsulitis. We shall continue here with "Frozen Shoulder" for covenience. Frozen shoulders happen to people from 40 to 60 years of age, why I don't know. Mostly they are preceeded by a minor trauma maybe weeks previously. The begin with an ache in the shoulder and loss of lateral rotation i.e. elbow by your side and flexed to 90 and swing hand away from your body. The pain increases for several months as does the stiffness and remains frozen for a few months the defrosts over a few months. The few months together might be as short as 9 months or as long as 2 years.
A similar shoulder condition is the "Traumatic Arthritis", it is suffered by the middle aged and elderly, preceeded by minor trauma, good for a week or so then the pain begins. These are really helped be being active right away, if not pain for three months then they slowly settle but it may take up to a year.
I suppose surgery to a shoulder joint counts as traumatic but many settle quite quickly. Some like yours don't, many factors come into play.
So an anaesthetic will be given and perhaps some fluid into the capsule and the Doc will stretch out the joint. If I remember it only takes from a few seconds to a few minutes.
The ones I saw in the military started PT immediatly, in fact they were done in the PT department. Then ice for a few minutes 5 or 6 times a day, pendular exercises, self passive exercises i.e., raising up one arm with the other. No sling that I can remember but bandage the arm to chest for sleeping was ordered. Take your medication as ordered don't wait till you crave it. Hope it goes well.
James

I hae had three rotator cuff surgeries on the shoulder, but never frozen shoulder until now. This last time I had the supraspinatis(sp) tendon, slap, and some of the clavical removed. The doc told me if 4-6 months I'd be back to work and back on my feet. Well here it is almost 7 months later and the shoulder is frozen from work comp denying therapy. The doc has tried everything to get things done for my benefit and he has even been giving me copies of everything he sent to them so I know he is being truthful. The only was he will schedule the manipulation of the shoulder this time is if they approve 4 weeks of therapy within 2-3 days after surgery. Like he said why do the surgery if they will not approve therapy because then it will be for nothing and I agree. I just don't understand why would work comp approve my first surgery, but not therapy just in order to have me go back into surgery and pay even more. I don't understand it and don't think I ever will. I am just hoping that I can find more info from those that have had this done to find out how everything went for them.

The question is do you have a frozen shoulder or a traumatic arthritis. Also, you really do not know for sure that the "frozen shoulder" happened because you did not have therapy. It could have been that even with treatment it could have become stiff.
James